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March 29, 2013

I was thinking about
skipping this “oh, hey, I reached a new milestone!” post, seeing as how this
one coincides a little too neatly with the 1-year anniversary of the site. It’s really awkward positioning, and tooting
my own horn isn’t something I’ve ever been in the practice of. So maybe from now on, this’ll be the last
time I ever make note of a benchmark in the title of a post -- maybe I’ll make
a mention of it in the first line or two of my virtual spews, but that’ll be
it. We’ll see.

But enough of
that. If the last milestone post (and
the one before it) are any indication, then this is going to be high on the
rankings for a while yet…which I find inexplicable, but who am I to argue with
the logic of the internet? All I can do
is put out content and hope that it doesn’t inspire divine rage.

I doubt that’ll be the
case for this post -- probably because it’s got a bit of “real talk” within
it. Or at least real-ish. Real in accordance with my skill set.

March 25, 2013

It goes without saying, but the next time you see this page, it won't be the same as before. It'll be tucked away in a part of the I Hraet You tab, and things will be altered as needed. Inevitably that means more character bios and art, because if my files are any indication there are still quite a few to go; no doubt I'll be getting some of those guys up later on. And of course, there are certain details about these characters I've kept under wraps, for obvious (spoiler-based) reasons. So once new chapters come in, it might be a good idea to check back every now and then.

But enough talk. Please enjoy some brief descriptions of the cast as I showcase my tedium-bred MS Paint skills.

It’s an old GameCube (and PS2) title by the guys who did the Dynasty
Warriors series. And it shows;
aesthetic differences aside, the goal -- as always -- is to make your way
across the map, beating down as many undead soldiers, monsters, and generals as
you can. To the game’s credit, its
greatest strength is the addition of magic that helps break up the monotony of
mashing the attack button. Press the Y
button, and fire off, say, some lightning bolts. Hold it down, and you can target enemies with
lock-on magic. Hit X, and you’ll be able
to spice up your physical attack with magic -- and a chance to cause a status
effect that’s dependent on the attack’s element (wind confuses, lightning
slows, fire burns, ice freezes). Couple
that with some RPG mechanics and plenty of magic types to seek out and equip,
and you’ve got yourself a handy-dandy little game.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. And it’s definitely started showing its
age. And that voice acting is something else, to the point where I
wouldn’t even call it voice acting. But
I still like it; part of it’s in a sort of sympathetic “aw, bless your heart”
capacity, as you’d expect. But part of
it is because I’m genuinely having fun with the game. I’m planning on playing through it some more
as soon as I’m able (and maybe doing a little post on it somewhere down the
line).

It doesn’t bode well
for God of War: Ascension when I realized I'd rather play a decade-old game instead.

March 22, 2013

Confession time: I’m
really wary of my ability to make a good setting.

I’ve had this complex
for years now. Characters I can do, and
enjoy doing. Themes? I can work with those. Plot?
Give me enough time, and I can pound something out. Setting?
Nope, nope nope nope -- you’re asking the wrong guy.

This may be a case of
me being too modest, but then again I’ve always been nervous about coming
up with my own settings (and my technique in general, but we’ll set that aside
for now). Can I build a fantastic
world? Can I make it unique? Can I weave in a framework and details? Can I keep those details straight? Can I even write a scene well? There’s no doubt that I’m better at writing
than I’ve ever been -- and I’ll be saying the same a year from now -- but
considering what’s out there, I can’t help but get a little pensive. Especially considering all the points that go
into building a setting; I’d like to think that one day I’ll have to put some
serious work into leveling up my geography skills.

Is it possible for me
to get better? Of course. That’s pretty much a given; the fact that I’m
willing to both admit my weakness and start envisioning what I need to do means
that what might be my weakest point now could become my strongest (and then
I’ll start faltering in another area, just to balance things out). Whatever the case, I know that I’ve got the
potential to go up and up, as long as I put in the effort and use my head.

It certainly helps that
I’ve got something in particular to try and beat.

March 20, 2013

Improbable synonyms for
a vendetta aside, I’ve been thinking about games a lot recently…well, about as
much as usual, give or take a degree.
The 3DS has been out for a while now, and the Wii U is firmly lodged in
stores, the hands of gamers, or the minds of millions as they wait for their
store of choice to restock (at least if the Wii’s original unavailability is
anything to go by). It makes me wonder
about the future of games; what’s going to happen next? I remember how a friend of mine was utterly
infuriated by Nintendo in its E3 showing, but as I’ve said (in real life and in
other contexts), Nintendo’s not in any danger of failure. The Wii U is going to be fine, hiccups here
and there aside. And while I have many…many…many
reservations about the future of other companies -- hardware or software
developers -- I’m more than willing to assume everything will work out.

That said, I can’t help
but feel like taking steps back every now and then -- remembering the good old
days, and smiling fondly thanks to those simulated sights. And that’s why the theme of this round of Let’s Discuss is “return” -- get ready
for games old and new-ish. What
will pop out before your eyes? What
fiendish sights will wreak havoc on your optic nerves? What hyperbole can I slip into the next
fifteen words or so? Find out, or you’re
certain to face a reality-destroying apocalypse!

March 18, 2013

The first rule of I Hraet You recap videos is: you do not
talk about how long it took to make I
Hraet You recap videos. And that’s
all I feel like saying about that.

In any case, here’s a
little something from me to you.In preparation for the
upcoming deluge of new chapters for I
Hraet You -- the so-called web serial novel thingamajig that’s been a fixture
of this blog for the past year or so -- I’ve managed to put together a video
that sums up everything that’s happened so far.
Well, “slide show” is probably the more appropriate term, but you get
the idea. In any case, this right here
is fifty-five chapters (at least a hundred thousand words) summarized and
compressed into a ten-minute video…featuring music from The King of Fighters…and one song from World of Goo. I’m really
getting a lot of mileage out of that four-disc soundtrack that came with KoF XIII.

Shame they didn't include any of the songs from 2002 UM, though. Undercover is my jam. And they left off the KoF XI version of Still Green? That's just -- oh, right, I Hraet You. Can't get too carried away now.

March 15, 2013

Before we get started,
there’s something I want to talk about -- and thanks to Sirrah Yllib for
bringing this to my attention. It looks
like I haven’t brought up anything about the music yet…and a part of me’s
tempted to leave that bit of the game out.
I do all right when it comes to music (listening to it rather than
playing it), but I’m no expert. And when
it comes to 13-2’s music I don’t have
all that much to say.

It’s serviceable. There are a couple of good songs in there,
and a couple of…well, let’s call them weird songs and leave it at that. The other songs? Honestly, I don’t feel like they’re worth
mentioning. They’re not terrible, but
you won’t see me shuffling off to YouTube to try and figure out what that one
song during that one scene might have been -- kind of sad, considering that I’m
almost always listening to video game music when I write these posts. Still, I wouldn’t chalk it up as another
failure of the game. Not yet, at least. While a good video game practically
necessitates a good soundtrack, 13-2’s inoffensive
music doesn’t do quite as much harm…unless of course, you’re the sort who puts
extreme value on music. In which case,
express disappointment as needed. I know
I have with…you know…everything else.

March 11, 2013

You know, I’m reminded
of a conversation I had with my brother a couple of weeks ago. He was really excited about the then-upcoming
release of Revengeance; knowing that
I tended to keep a pulse on game reviews, he asked me if I thought it would get
good scores -- especially in comparison to the fresh-on-the-market DmC.
I gave him my prediction. “No, it
probably won’t get good reviews. There’s
no denying that it’ll be good, but the scores won’t be as high as DmC’s.
People will probably say the story is stupid, or confusing, or
something. Or some other flaw.”

And then the scores
started popping up. And indeed, it has
seen some favorable reviews -- not enough to put its Metacritic score over DmC’s, but it is a close race. That length seems to be a major sticking
point.

But if there’s one
thing that I’m starting to learn as of late, it’s that reviews are merely a suggestion of quality, not a
confirmation of it. Maybe my standards
have just become annoyingly high in the last few years, but the sheer number of
nines and tens from the gaming press seem to be less and less likely to
translate into a “great game, great experience”, at least in my eyes. I’m the kind of guy who READS the reviews,
not just glances at the score. And when
I read about issues with the new Tomb
Raider and issues with the new God of
War, I’m starting to fear that I need to start magnifying those problems to
figure out if a game is right for me.
Maybe I need to be doubly-negative.
If reviewers won’t be critical, I guess I’ll have to.

Which brings us back to
Raiden’s Ass Kicking Jamboree.

WARNING: You are in for a crap-ton of spoilers
if you read carelessly, so if you’re looking to play the game first with a
fresh perspective, do so immediately.
Also, don’t do what I did and forget that the Select button lets you
access the Codec and plenty of conversations with your pals. Cripes, I’m terrible at Metal Gear games…

March 6, 2013

I think I might have a
problem -- one that only seems to become more prevalent as time passes. It’s probably because I play a lot of video
games, but I don’t think my “affliction” is linked to just one medium. Movies, TV, books, what have you -- time and
time again, I find myself wishing things were different. That things were more to my tastes.

All too often, I find
myself thinking that the main character is kind of boring -- and wishing that
one of his friends was the story’s focus.

March 4, 2013

I know that opinions may
vary pretty wildly on the game, but in all honesty I like PlayStation All-Stars. I
like it a lot more than I thought I would, and even months after its release
I’ll go out of my way to play online (now more than ever thanks to the presence
of Emmett “Easy Money” Graves). It’ll be
interesting to see what comes next for the game, both in terms of new
characters and in terms of a sequel that can improve on what we have
already.

Still, if there’s one
thing I lament -- coming from someone who’s spent years playing the Smash Bros. games -- it’s the absence of
a lot of true all-stars. Chief among
them, Princess Peach. My brother swears
up and down that she’s overpowered/broken, but even if that was the case (and I
suspect not, given her tier list placing), I still like her beyond just giving
me a good shot at victory. There’s just
something refreshing -- or maybe “hilarious” is more like it -- about being
able to fling around gorillas and smack evil warlords in the face with a tennis
racket. She’s THE video game princess,
and brings along with her an air of daintiness and goodness; she’s like a
breath of fresh air, in the sense that she’s a respite against the MANLY MAN
MEN that a lot of games would have you play as.
Don’t get me wrong, there are other female characters that I enjoy
playing as or having around (more so than Peach, and by a long shot), but for
what it’s worth the pink-clad princess is more than enough to put a smile on my
face.

March 3, 2013

I honestly can’t
remember the last time something like this happened, if at all. I’ve managed to finish two games -- two GREAT
games, I might add -- within about a day of each other. Metal
Gear Rising: Revengeance and Xenoblade
Chronicles are both notches on my belt now, and it’s only natural that I
give them both proper Let’s Discuss posts.
Problem is, I don’t know which one to tackle first.

On the one hand, I’ve
been putting Xenoblade off for months
now (for reasons I still can’t explain (besides laziness)), and having finished
it I feel like I need to go over bits and pieces of it. On the other hand, Revengeance is so damn good that even if it is on the short side, I’m
already thinking of playing through it again…and since finishing it, the game’s
been on my mind for an almost-unhealthy amount of time. Either way, both games are much-needed
respites from schlock like Final Fantasy
13-2 and DmC, and have helped
give my palate a full scrub-down. And it’s
quite possible that these games -- one or even BOTH -- are good enough to make
it into my personal and currently hypothetical Top Ten. The only way to know for sure is to get these
things written up and posted here on Cross-Up.

But which one gets the
first swing? Well, I think I’ll leave
that up to you all.

Here’s what we’re going
to do. Whoever comments first on this post gets to decide which game will get
a Let’s Discuss post first. What
will it be? One of the greatest JRPGs of
this generation? Or the action game
primed to become one of 2013’s best? It’s
all in your hands, readers -- so make it count!

March 1, 2013

I hate it. It makes me angry, sad, and tired all at
once. I’m tired of knowing that in its current
state, the Final Fantasy brand is
more likely to inspire misery than wonder.
I’m tired of seeing this company continuously stumble its way through
releases. I’m tired of being able to
point out flaw after flaw after flaw in
what should be an airtight, satisfying story.
And you know what? I bet you
readers are tired, too. I read the
comments, and I do my best to respond to all of them. Time and time again, people have said things
like “How could things get this bad?” and “You really need to take a break from
this game.”

Regarding how things
could get this bad, consider this: it took about four or five years from the
announcement of FF13 to its release,
and the best Squeenix could put out was something that belonged in a dump
truck. In hindsight it’s almost silly to
expect the company to put out a better product in half the time, even if they did outsource it, or at least worked in tandem with another company. Just look at the old Serah model compared to the new.

Regarding “taking a
break,” all of you are exactly right.
This game is going to be the death of me, and in more ways than one, if
I keep playing it. So I won’t. As much as I hate to admit it, as much of a
blow to my pride it is to say this…sigh…Final
Fantasy 13-2 is unbeatable. And even
if it was -- even if I could grin and bear it, ignoring every single fault the game throws my way -- it’s not worth
it. There’s no reward awaiting me at the
end of the final battle. So screw
it. No more of me picking apart the
story.